Sparkling Stormers rock Bulls in Cape Town epic, make URC title statement as 30 000 roar

At DHL Stadium

The circumstances were unique as rugby rocked Cape Town just two days before Christmas, but the brutal battle between the Stormers and the Bulls on Friday night was all too familiar. 

This was an epic, eventually won 37-27 by the Stormers, but it was ding-dong stuff throughout as both sides threw absolutely everything at each other. 

The crowd of 30 000 was superb, roaring from start to finish, and the Bulls did excellently to fight back to 13-13 at half-time despite playing 20 of those 40 minutes with 14 men after yellow cards to Marco van Staden and then Elrigh Louw. 

AS IT HAPPENED | Stormers v Bulls

At that point, it was anybody’s game, and it would have taken a brave punter to make a call either way. 

In the end, a second-half blitz from the Stormers saw them score three stunning tries in five minutes that got them comfortably over the line and provided a deafening reminder of why they are the United Rugby Championship champions. 

That crazy period – between the 49th and 53rd minutes – was a treat for the Capetonians that had arrived in full voice on this warm, colourful evening that will be remembered fondly for a long time in these parts. 

Manie Libbok dazzled, Suleiman Hartzenberg arrived, Leolin Zas danced and skipped his way to a brilliant individual try, and throughout all of that, the Bulls had no answer. 

The result leaves the Stormers 2nd on the URC log and they have now beaten the Bulls four times in a row in this competition. 

From almost the first whistle, the spice that makes this one of the fiercest rivalries in world rugby was evident.

“I’m glad that’s out the system,” said referee AJ Jacobs, just 80 seconds into the clash, after a good-old-fashioned ‘argy bargy’ had seen both packs of forwards go toe-to-toe off the ball. 

Van Staden was lucky to escape a red card for a head clash with Dan du Plessis on 13 minutes, but for the contest as a whole, it was a positive call from the referee. 

The Stormers had manufactured an early 6-0 lead thanks to two Libbok penalties, and that early dominance should have translated into even more points when Hacjivah Dayimani ignored a pass to his outside, opting instead to crash over the line only to be stopped brilliantly by a Kurt-Lee Arendse tackle that won back possession.  

The Bulls, with Van Staden still off the field, landed a valuable three points through Johan Goosen to make it 6-3, but just as Van Staden came back on, the hosts smashed the Bulls at a rolling maul that resulted in a penalty try and saw No 8 Elrigh Louw also sin-binned. 

The Stormers were 13-3 up at that point and it looked a long way back for the Bulls given they were down to 14 men again. 

They responded perfectly, holding onto the ball for several phases of attack. The Stormers gave away a penalty and with the overlap on the left and the advantage in his pocket, Goosen kicked into space where Nizaam Carr gathered and crashed over. 

Goosen knocked over a quality conversion as Damian Willemse was lost momentarily to a head knock, and in the 38th minute the Bulls were bashing away at the line again after a couple of Stormers penalties.

The Bulls came close, but were held up over the line, and there was no hesitation in taking the three from point blank to leave the scores level at 13-13. 

It was a nervy start from both sides after the break but then, within the space of two minutes, the Stormers went ‘bang bang’ in spectacular fashion to score two tries that knocked the stuffing out of the visitors. 

They showed the best of both facets of their attack, too. 

The first try came after keeping it close, bashing away, before Joseph Dweba showed massive strength to power over from 5m out. 

Then, off the restart, the Stormers launched a riveting counter-attack – a hallmark of their game under coach John Dobson – that saw Libbok take a gap and show unbelievable awareness and skill to unleash those outside to his right. It ended with the highly-rated Hartzenberg scoring, but this was a team try of the highest order. 

Suddenly, the scoreboard read 27-13 to the Stormers, and the Bulls were stunned. It was about to get worse for them, too. 

The fourth try was equally impressive. Libbok found Zas in acres of space down the left flank, and the top try scorer in last season’s competition had plenty to do as he danced his way past several tackles and scored in a wonderful individual effort. 

Libbok again added the extras, and at 34-13, this one seemed over as a contest. 

The Bulls hit back again as Van Staden went over from close range, narrowing it to 34-20, and with 15 minutes to go they still had a chance. 

That optimism was effectively dashed when Libbok kicked a 40m penalty, taking it out to 37-20. There was a late Bismarck du Plessis try, but it was nothing more than consolation. 

Results aside, South Africa’s first taste of festive season rugby must be considered a huge success. There were nearly 25 000 people in Durban earlier on Friday watching the Sharks beat the Lions. 

Those numbers, more than anything, will be the jingle bells ringing in the ears of SA Rugby as they have taken another major step towards aligning themselves fully with the northern hemisphere calendar.  

Scorers:

Stormers 37 (13)

Tries: Penalty Try, Joseph Dweba, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Leolin Zas

Conversion: Manie Libbok (4)

Penalties: Manie Libbok (3)

Bulls 27 (13)

Tries: Nizaam Carr, Marco van Staden, Bismarck du Plessis

Conversion: Johan Goosen (2), Chris Smith

Penalties: Goosen (2)